Overworked!

Play bows, pups! It's me - Zim!

Before I get down to today's post, I want to give everyone a paws up about a post we made a few days ago A Soldier's Christmas Poem. We inadvertantly gave the wrong title for the poem, but have squared it away now! We got a nice comment from Mr. Anthony W. Pahl, OAM, the webmaster from the IWVPA, who gave us the straight scoop! Thank roo, Mr. Pahl!

So..... mom brought the mail in yesterday and we were VERY interested in one of the cards. Hey, cool! This tiny stocking has my NAME stitched on it! I wonder who sent this?

WOW! It's from FuFu! How cool!

Thanks for the cool card, FuFu!

We've got the house all set with decorations. Everything is up and festive-looking. Here is Ammy by one of the Christmas trees. We put patriotic or Army-related ornaments on this one, to remind us of the members of our military, past, present and future who serve our nation.

One thing mom does for this Christmas tree dates back to at least the mid-1800s - a great military family tradition from the "frontier days"! She ties some of our dad's brass Army uniform buttons and even some of her dad's buttons to our tree! She takes spare brass buttons from their uniforms, loops ribbon through the shank, and ties them to our tree! Pretty cool, huh?

Amber looks very angelic, doesn't she? She's even got her legs crossed like the sweet girl she (normally) is. Who would think that as we unpacked the tins of decorations that there would be a notation by one of them "scherenschnitte -- bought on REFORGER '88, eaten by Amber DEC '99". Ha ROO! (In Am's defense, she was only 10 months old.) And Santa still brought her new toys that year.

After all the work we've been doing, I needed some serious Z-time. Here's where I go to get away from it all. No one can find me when I'm in my secret get-away.

Here's a close up. See? No one knows where I am! Ha rooo!Play bows, everypup! And Merry Christmas!
Zim

Christmas Lights

Woo, everypup. It's me, Dave. Just wanted to let you know how hard we've been working around here - doing the decorations and everything. Here I am, working. Me. Dave. With my blue dinosaur bone. Working.

And here's Storm, also working.

Storm hard at work.

Here are some of the Christmas lights we helped put up on the back deck. It's hard to get a good picture of them, but this gives you an idea. And it was a pretty sunset, so that's worth the shot right there.And here's part of what we did out front. Stormy is inspecting. She said at the rate we're going, it's the only SNOW we'll get for Christmas. Woo.

I better go get some more sack time. Zim and I are going to try to wait up for Santa again this year, and we figured we'd have a better chance making it past 2100 if we front-loaded some Z-time. Woo.

Luv and Merry Christmas,
Dave

Even More Christmas Cards

Ha roo! Zim here! We've received even MORE DWB Christmas cards! We'd like to thank the following pups for spreading cheer our way:

Russell & JoJo
Lillie & the Angel Daisie
T-man & CC-man
Gus
Jay

Thank roo SO much!

Did you read yesterday's post about our great-sisters Lucky and Jesse? Their biological dad's name was Gingerbreadman. I think that'd be a great name for a Siberian. Maybe even for me!

You know the line from the old poem:

...Run, run, as fast as you can
You can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man ...

Ha roo! I wonder if that was really written about a red and white Sibe!?!?

This is an action shot of me in the old backyard. I'm FAST!

Have a playful day, everypup!

Play bows,
Zim

Lucky - Kat!

Tail wags, pupper-dupper-doos! Storms here!

I was surfing through some of the DWB and Husky Blogger Ring blogs the other day - and saw a new pup who really reminds me of our great-sister Lucky! Yeah! On "The Adventures of Two Huskies and their Cat", I saw Steve and Kat, two adorable Siberian puppies! (What else could Siberian puppies be?) The more I looked at Kat, the more I thought she looked like Lucky!

Check this out! Here is Kat (hope she doesn't mind me posting her pic here!):

That's Kat on the left;Steve on the right. Now here's a picture of Lucky when she was a wee babe like Kat:

That's Lucky ('83-96) on the left; Jesse ('83-92) on the right. Can you see the similarity!?! Lucky and Jesse were from the Karnovanda kennels, which is in Michigan - their biological dad was Karnovanda's Gingerbreadman! So they were from American lines, but born in Berlaar, Belgium, and came back to America eventually! Everypuppy with me on that one?

Kat & Steve told us their mom is curious to know what they might look like when they get bigger - Siberian masks change when we grow up, you know! Click here for great examples!

Here are a couple pix of Lucky, as she grew! Here she is when she was 3. They had just moved to the US from Belgium! Left to right are Lucky, Jackie Blue (mom's brother's Siberian!) and Jesse. In the middle is our non-fur cousin. :) See how Jesse's mask changed, too? She lost those "glasses" she had around her eyes - or as Amber likes to say, maybe she got contacts. Ha roo! That Am; she always cracks me up!

And here she is another a few years later, when she was probably 5 or 6!

Hope you enjoyed the pix. Lucky and Jesse were some mighty special Siberians! :) And they really did a lot of the training of our bipeds. Ha roo!

Tail wags,
Storm

More DWB Christmas Cards!

Hi everypuppy! It's me, Amber!

We have received even more Christmas cards from our DWB friends! Many thanks to the following puppies:

Charlie
Charlie Kelley-Church
Fei

Kingsley
Sunshade
Toby

It's going to get busy around here today - we think Mom wants to finish the decorating. We work hard to help her, you know. Regardless of what she's doing.
Speaking of help decorating and doing Christmas-y things, the First Puppies help President and Mrs. Bush, too! Click here to see Barney, Miss Beasley and even Kitty getting into the Christmas spirit! Yes... it's Barney Cam! :)
I've never met Barney or Miss Beasley, but there are some Scottie dogs in our neighborhood. They usually say "hi" when we walk past their house.

Merry Christmas!
Love,
Amber

Sunday Salute - Luna, Kito & Timber!

This week's Sunday Salute goes out to our friends Luna, Kito & Timber!

We've posted once before about Luna and Kito - our friends in Miami, Florida. They're extremely cool red and white Sibes who also have a very large, huggable black and white bear of a brother, Timber! Timber's blind, but that doesn't stop him from doing anything. We wonder ... would a blind dog have a Guide Person? Hmm... we'll have to ask him.

Anyroo........ why salute these great friends of ours? Because they made it snow in Miami! Seriously! And they did it without a Weather Control Device! (Not that ours has brought us any snow...!) Kito told Zim: the weather report on Saturday did not call for snow, but we did get some of the only snow you’ll ever see in Miami!

Here's Kito, resting before the storm hit:

And here's Luna:They seem unaware of what's about to hit! But it's coming! A snow storm! Or as Kito said, the only snow you'll see in Miami!

Wait! Wait! Here it comes! It's the Miami snow storm! Check out this picture of Timber!!! The snow is all around him!

Ha roo roo roo! It's a Siberian snow storm!! :)

We have a feeling Luna had something to do with the "snow storm". Check out this next picture of her:

Hee hee hee!

Yeah..... Luni and Ammy are two peas in a pod! :)

Luna, Kito and Timber ... congratulations on making it snow in Miami! We salute you!

The Army of Four

PS: Note from Amber: I loved your joke, roo guys! Sorry about the Sibe Pluck-Fest! Brushes are evil! ;)

A Soldier's Christmas Poem

Tail wags, everypup! It's me, Storms. During this busy Christmas season, please don't forget to stop and remember those wonderful members of our military who serve so that we can be free and safe! The US Department of Defense has updated the "Heroes" page; we encourage you to click the photo-link above and learn more about our heroes! We've also updated our sidebar link, to coordinate!I'll leave you with this poem we received via email. According to the International War Veterans' Poetry Archive (IWVPA) this poem was written in December of 2000 by Michael Marks.

A Soldier's Christmas

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.
Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.
The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.
My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.

The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know,
Then the sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.
My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.
Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.

A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.
"What are you doing?" I asked without fear,
"Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!"

For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts..
To the window that danced with a warm fire's light
Then he sighed and he said "Its really all right,
I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night."
"It's my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.
No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.
My Gramps died at 'Pearl on a day in December,"
Then he sighed, "That's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers."
My dad stood his watch in the jungles of 'Nam',
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.
I've not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile.

Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red, white, and blue... an American flag.
I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.
I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.
I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother..
Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall."

"So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting and I'll be all right."
"But isn't there something I can do, at the least,
"Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast?
It seems all too little for all that you've done,
For being away from your wife and your son."
Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
"Just tell us you love us, and never forget.
To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us."

On behalf of the Army of Four, we give our heartfelt thanks to the men and women of the US military! We love you and we will never forget!

Carry on, pups. Merry Christmas!

Tail wags,
Stormy
Supreme Commander
The Army of Four

PS: Photo credits, top to bottom: The DoD Heroes page :), me, me again, and Zim.

The Picture of Innocence

Hey everypup! Zim here. Just a quick reminder that Santa is watching. Make sure you work in a couple of really innocent-looking poses.

Play bows,

Zim

PS: Dave said something about a web page up and running? He asked me to share this link with you. Then he ha woo-ed. And said to make sure your speakers are on. I hope Santa's watching Dave.

DWB Christmas Cards

Woooo! Dave here! Even though we were unable to participate in the DWB Christmas Card Exchange, we've received LOTS of nice cards! We'd like to thank the following pups for sending us their greetings:

Bogart
Boomer, Annabelle, Snickers & Turbo Kitty
Buster
Butchy & Snickers
Charlie & Opy
Chelsea
Cubby & Dakota
Dory
Freda
Hershey & Copper
Holly
Isabella
Mackie & Ollie
Marvin
Murphey
Salchicha & Lilly
Simba
Sophia
TinTin

We truly appreciate all the bee-woo-tiful cards... though I must admit, I dogonally may have a favorite. (sigh...)

Stormy, Am and I put together a special Christmas greeting for you, but it doesn't seem to be uploading at all. Hmm. I suspect Zim may have had a paw in that. We took a picture of him and made it into a dancing elf...... and now the site won't load. Zim? What have you done? He may need the services of our friend Meeshka before too long. Or maybe we will. Someone is bound to. If we can get it up and running, we'll post a P-update.

For some seasonal fun, please use this link to create your own snowflakes! This is especially helpful for those of us who are snow-less.

We would also like to thank Raisa and our fellow Husky bloggers! We are honored that the Ao4 Digest is the featured blog for December! Thank woo! Please visit our fellow huskies! (See very cool link in our right-hand side bar!)

Oh! And here's some winter-y fun. Mom just got this in an email from a friend with the message: Ever feel like doing this to someone? Ha wooooooo!



Merry Christmas, everypup. Luv,
Dave

PS: I removed the Christmas music - we just put it up for St. Nicholas Day. We'll put it back for Christmas... but we didn't want anypup to have issues with a long "load" time. Woo.

Gophers?

Happy Saint Nicholas Day, everypup! It's me - Zim. I hope you got lots of goodies left in your sabots last night! And I hope your bipeds will do some fun baking for Christmas and that you'll help!
We were out on our afternoon patrol the other day, exploring all over the place, when the bipeds stopped to look at stuff. I heard Stormy say something to Dave and asked her to tell me what she said.

See, Zim? They're over there!

Amber! Stormy said there are GOPHERS over there!

Zimmie! She said "golfers", not "gophers"! Hee hee hee!

Really? Hmm... find your game!

Play bows, pupperoos!

Zim

K from Mexico and It's St. Nicholas Eve!

Hi everypuppy! It's Amber! We got the most wonderful email yesterday from one of my FAVORITE Siber-boys! :) Actually, being the very respectful pup that he is, he sent it to my mom and asked her very politely if she thought it was OK and maybe we'd like his picture and would want to use it in our blog and oh... I just have to tell you he's SO CUTE!

Anyroo, it's our dear friend K, in Mexico City! He has been reading the Ao4 Digest and said he really liked the cute poses we've shown. K has a GREAT one of his own and shared it with us. Check it out:Oooooohhhhhhhh! Who could EVER deny that handsome guy anything? Look at that face... those gorgeous eyes... that gumdrop nose.... *sigh*

Thank roo, K, for sharing that picture with us! It's extremely wonderful!

In other news of the day.... does everypuppy know that tomorrow is Saint Nicholas Day?!? Our parents learned all about how Belgians celebrate St. Nicholas Day when they lived in ... well, in Belgium. :) One of the traditions is that on St. Nicholas' Eve (tonight!) you leave your wooden shoes on the hearth - usually with treats for St. Nic's horse. If you've been good, he will leave you treats - especially a delightful spice cookie called "Speculoos"! YUM!

For some really wonderful information about Saint Nicholas and his special day, please visit this link. It explains traditions from all over the world!

Mom makes wonderful Speculoos and we help her! Here is Dave, at left, with the sabots (wooden shoes) and a Speculoos board. (Speculoos are a molded cookie, pressed into a carved board!) Hmm... there don't seem to be any treats for St. Nicholas' horse in those sabots, Dave! Oh well. I'm not sure if you can see it, but that board is from Belgium, and it has a hand-carved St. Nicholas on it! I hope maybe he'll leave us special things in the sabots tonight!

At right are some Speculoos mom made last year in a mold that looked like a hound! For anypuppy who likes to help in the kitchen, here is mom's favorite recipe for Speculoos - all the way from Belgium!

Speculoos - or Speculaas - are claimed by both the Belgians and the Dutch. Since I (mom-o-the-Ao4) bought my boards in Belgium from a man from the Netherlands..... I won't take sides. :) Either way you bake them, they're a wonderfully spicy treat! A great cookie to have with a cup of strong coffee! Or, yes, Zim... some cappuccino.
• 3 cups flour• 1 1/2 cups butter• 1 1/2 cups brown sugar• 1/4 tsp. salt• 1/4 tsp. baking powder (or hartshorn)• 1 tsp. cloves• 3 tsp. cinnamon• 1 tsp. nutmeg• milk, as needed (6 T)• slivered almonds
Oil your wooden speculoos board if using it for the first time. Sprinkle with flour; shake off excess. Knead all ingredients except almonds together, until they make a ball. Press part of the dough in the mold. Cut extra dough away with a sharp knife or string. Holding your right hand at the top of the board, slam it down. The figure will fall out... hopefully... Place cookie on a buttered baking sheet. Decorate with almonds, if desired. Bake in a "moderate" oven (350) 15-25 minutes until brown.
You can also finely chop the almonds and add them to your dough. Also... you
can try cutting the butter to 1 cup and adding an egg.

Thank roo, Mom, for sharing the recipe! Dave is SURE St. Nicholas will bring him something wonderful if he helps bake Speculoos! :) As they say in southern Belgium ... BON APPETIT ... or is that SMAKELIJK ETEN for those in the north?!??! :)

I hope Saint Nicholas brings everypuppy something wonderful!

Love,

Amber

Cappuccino?

Hey everypup. Remember I mentioned my favorite (yet forbidden) people food is cappuccino? 'Specially now that it's so cold out and all...... ohhh, I could just really go for a frothy, foamy cup of ...

Oooh...... what's this? (sniff, sniff)

Dad.......... Dad, please can I have some Cappuccino?

Right there...... just beyond reach! Must... come up with... new... cute pose.

Who can say "no" to this face?

Play bows and cappuccino dreams,

Zim (I wonder if Santa would bring me a Starbuck's gift certificate?)

Sunday Salute - McKinley of South Africa!

Today's Sunday Salute goes to our pal McKinley of South Africa!

We've mentioned "Big M little c" before - with his sister Nikki! In fact, our second Sunday Salute went to the two of them for (among other things) their great hole-digging skills! McKinley has sent in a couple updates on this one great hole he's got going on; here he is in a great action shot!

Look at him GO! McKinley told us that he's checking the depth in this shot: "If you blow in it, it helps dislodge some of the soil and you get a lot further a lot faster!!!"

He's got this down to a science!
And look at how GREAT his hole is! Wow! McKinley - OUTSTANDING JOB!

As if this wasn't enough of a reason to be featured in our Sunday Salute, McKinley read our posts about the "Sibes aren't allowed on the furniture" rule. Apparently, that very rule is in place in South Africa, too. :( But he has a GREAT way to cope with it and shared his method with us.

He told us, "...my stoopid hume has the same rule - beds only, well that is better than nothing but when I do want to sit on the sofa I do what they call a 'side bum'. This is legal! I promise. As long as at least two 'points' are on the floor I am allowed 'side bum'. Sending a picture (or two) to show you how it is done..."

Wow! Not only did he find a clever and legal way around the "not on the furniture" rule, but he's managing to shed on some of his mom's BEAUTIFUL hand-made quilts, too! (Sibe fur adds fluffiness and warmth, you know!) This is one TALENTED Siberian!

He added that it's very, very hot in South Africa these days - they're going into Summer now. He said, "If Santa had to come and visit us with bones and chewies he would melt today!! Especially with all that red and white fur that he wears..." Then he asked, "Is he related to you Ams???" Ha rooo & wooo! No one appreciates humor quite like Ammy!

For all your efforts, McKinley - from digging to the "side bum" to a great laugh for the day, we salute you!

The Army of Four

PS: Hee hee hee! McKinley's FUNNY! :) Love, Amber

Calming Signals?

Woo! It's me, Dave!
Before I get down to business today, I wanted to woo a couple things:

~Congrats to Buster for winning the DWB Awesome Blog of the Month! His blog is mighty cool; we hope you'll check it out! Also please check out the other cool dog blogs in our sidebar area! Not sure whose blog to read? Hit the "Paw it Forward" button and do a random surf! Every dog who blogs is a cool winner in our book! We'd like to thank everyone who voted in the contest, wag our tails to our fellow nominees, and say a big thank woo to whoever nominated us!

~I'd like to thank our wonderful webmaster at DWB for making the video of Stormy talking the featured video on DWB-TV! Stormy isn't just smart, she's articulate, too!

~Also, please check out our friend Indy's newsletter. He's got a great article about Puppies Are Not Presents that we all encourage you to read and pass on!

Our friend Marvin seems to be having some reading problems lately. First, he thought when I said I was bringing something up ... he thought I was doing the "horka" thing. Woo. Then he thought Zim wrote that we had NO furniture instead of new furniture -- he said, "When I first read through it, when I got to the bit where you said 'we don't have that furniture anymore'....I read it as 'we don't have furniture anymore'..." He thought Zim ate it. Ha woo! It all reminds me about something that happened shortly after I got here...

Ammy is REALLY good at communication and is the MASTER of what they call Calming Signals. Apparently, there's something called a "book" about it called "On Talking Terms with Dogs: Calming Signals". Ammy must really like it! To make a long story short... I decided to see what it was all about one day. I thought it was a toy! Amber loves toys... so ... you know. I made an assumption. Then mom came home and explained to me that we don't play with books! Mom... I thought it was a toy! She let me try her glasses on ... and it all became so much clearer to me!

Wooo! Marvin, you should try these things called reading glasses!

What does "far sighted" mean? I asked Stormy, and she "ha roo roo rooed" at me.

Luv,

Dave

Weather Report and Variations on a Theme

Good morning, everypuppy! It's me, Amber! I hope everyone is having a happy day so far and to those of you who actually got snow like the bipeds on TV said you would - I'm very happy for you! All the bipeds on our TV and the ones behind the sidebar link to The Weather Channel said we were going to get a BUNCH of snow, too. I said nothing. Let me clarify. When my mom asked me how much snow we were going to get, I said, "Nothing." Meaning - no snow, as far as I can tell. Not for Wednesday, not for Thursday. Not for anytime this week. I didn't want to make that prediction, because I'd love to have some snow to go play in.... but I knew we weren't going to get any. The bipeds on TV and at The Weather Channel should read the Ao4 Digest or call me first. We are snowless in our little corner of the park. :(

Remember the new cute pose I posted the other day? Yes! The one at right here! Well, I got just the nicest email from the mom of our friends Frankie and Maddie! She said, "Did you teach Miss Frankie this adorable pose?????? We saw your blog and said 'Hey, we got one of those pics in the ole picture book'!!! Do any other Sibes in your Army do this, or is it a girl thang :-)" She is SO very sweet, isn't she? AND she sent me hugs. :) Here's the picture of our dear friend Frankie! Isn't she just SO very beautiful!??! She is an all-white Sibergirl!

And to answer the questions Frankie and Maddie's mom asked, no... I didn't teach that to Frankie! Hee hee hee! Stormy said all Siberians are born with an instinct for doing cute poses. :) I think it's SO NICE that Frankie does this one! She looks SO beautiful! AND - yes! Other members of the Ao4 also do a variation on this theme! Here's DAVY!

I don't have pictures of Zim and Stormy using that Treasure Chest as a prop, but they do sometimes, too!

Have a happy day, everypuppy!
Love,
Amber